Case Study

Buildium is a residential property management software designed for small to mid-sized property management companies and independent landlords. The platform supports end-to-end workflows across accounting, lease administration, maintenance, tenant communications, and online payments. Buildium is widely used in North America, particularly by managers overseeing between 50 and 5,000 units.

To ensure Buildium’s rapid scalability and reliability in real-world use, Top Remotely was pivotal in shaping the platform’s core systems, including accounting workflows, mobile responsiveness, and secure tenant engagement features. Our team brought deep industry insight and technical expertise to deliver a robust, user-friendly solution that meets the dynamic needs of residential property managers.

Challenges

Residential property managers using outdated systems or spreadsheets faced recurring operational headaches:

• Manual rent collection and cash tracking are causing delays and disputes.

• Disjointed communication channels with tenants and vendors.

• Limited oversight of maintenance progress and issue resolution timelines.

• Regulatory gaps exist due to unorganized lease records and compliance deadlines.

Top Remotely partnered with Buildium’s product leadership to diagnose these issues across diverse portfolios, designing automation flows and backend architectures that reduce administrative burden while boosting tenant satisfaction.

Objectives

Buildium and Top Remotely set out to:

• Transition from fragmented processes to a unified platform.

• Automate financial workflows, including rent collection, late fees, and reporting.

• Improve tenant experience with self-service tools and faster response times.

• Ensure consistent compliance through document storage and lease tracking.

Top Remotely’s engineering team translated these objectives into full-stack development sprints that prioritized usability, scalability, and secure data handling across thousands of property management offices.

Solutions

Buildium’s residential platform—custom-developed and enhanced in collaboration with Top Remotely—offers tailored capabilities that support portfolio growth and operational efficiency:

• Online Payments: Secure tenant portals for paying rent, deposits, and submitting maintenance requests.
  
• Accounting Suite: Automated general ledger, bank reconciliation, and tax filing tools.
  
• Communication Hub: Centralized messaging for tenant notices, maintenance updates, and reminders.
  
• Document Center: Digital storage and e-signature support for lease agreements, renewals, and notices.
  
• Maintenance Coordination: Integrated work order system with contractor assignments and mobile updates.

Deployment Process

Top Remotely provided full-cycle support, ensuring Buildium’s platform could be adopted quickly and effectively across all types of residential portfolios:

• Onboarding: Step-by-step setup wizard with live onboarding assistance.
  
• Data Import: Migrated tenant, lease, and financial records from spreadsheets and legacy software.
  
• Bank Syncing: Connected property bank accounts for seamless financial operations.
  
• Training: Offered live webinars, knowledge base access, and a dedicated success manager.

Results

After implementation—with Top Remotely providing continuous development and technical oversight—Buildium delivered quantifiable improvements for its users:

• 99% digital rent collection within 60 days of onboarding.

• 34% reduction in average maintenance resolution time.

• 25% decrease in operational overhead due to automation of tasks.

• 17% increase in tenant retention, driven by improved communication and service delivery.

These results proved that when the right digital tools are built around real-world workflows, even small property managers can operate at an enterprise level.

Technology Stack

• Backend: Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL
  
• Frontend: React.js
  
• Cloud Hosting: AWS (S3, RDS, EC2)
  
• Integrations: Stripe (payments), DocuSign (e-signatures), AppFolio migration APIs
  
• Mobile Support: Responsive web + native iOS and Android apps

Buildium empowers small and medium-sized property managers with tools once only available to enterprise-level firms. With Top Remotely as its product development partner, Buildium was able to scale its offering, introduce intelligent automation, and significantly improve usability for both operators and tenants.

Its intuitive platform helps reduce the chaos of residential portfolio management while unlocking new levels of operational control and engagement. This case shows that digital adoption doesn’t have to be complex—if the platform is purpose-built and backed by expert development from Top Remotely, transformation can be seamless and impactful.